


Previously, On Other People's Heartache

by Bionic (Vexza)



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: Developing Relationship, First Kiss, M/M, a little bit of cussing sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 18:54:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8412793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vexza/pseuds/Bionic
Summary: Blurr and Salvage have a much needed conversation about the past few weeks.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this fic takes place just after S03E22, the one where Blurr almost dies saving the town from that satellite (nice)
> 
> I've never really written Blurr or Salvage before so this was mostly done as practice before I write them into my other fanfic!

_Well, that's that._ Blurr thought, running his fingers over the new autobrand Optimus had carved into his chest only a few minutes ago. It itched a little bit, and he was having a really hard time resisting the urge to scratch at it. Blades had slapped his hands away from it once already, saying something about how he might deform the symbol, as hot and fresh as it was, but it seemed the heli-bot didn't have the energy to warn him more than once; the next time he caught himself scratching it, Blades had merely rolled his optics at him.

  
He stopped itching and just stared at the brand for a moment, marveling at the events of the past few weeks, and that Optimus had decided to induct him into the Rescue Bot ranks even considering what _had_ happened over the last few weeks. His one moment of heroism, it seemed, had been great enough to excuse his transgressions. He hadn't bought it at first, but the autobrand was certainly real enough, and Chase hadn't arrested him yet. Maybe things really were looking up for him.

  
Optimus had departed a few moments ago, and the rest of the team had moved inside Doc Greene's lab, apparently checking on the recently rebooted power grid and scanning the cameras for any sign of damage the falling satellite had caused. _There won't be any, of course_ , Blurr thought hotly. _He_ had seen to that.

  
He glanced towards the open garage door the other bots and humans had disappeared into. Warm electrical light spilled onto the cement, and gentle conversation wafted out. The words were mostly from organic mouths, but every now and again the telltale synthetic voice of a Cybertronian would chime in.

  
He considered eavesdropping for a moment, but perished the thought. The crisis had passed, and he had been jumped into the Rescue Bots' crew- there was nothing they could be talking about now that he really needed to hear. He didn't feel ready to join them yet either, and so leaned up against the cold cement wall just to the side of the door, head and optics angled up towards the stars.

  
Even though he had chosen to return and stay on Earth, the sight of the starways laid out before him made his mouth twist into a grimace. He had almost been free. He had almost been free of all responsibilities and all commitments, free to wander where he pleased, when he pleased. He had been so close he could almost taste it.

  
Admittedly, it would have been in a stolen spacecraft with the knowledge that he had let people die in order to attain his dreams, but still. It was a little bittersweet knowing that after weeks- no, years- of what felt like ceaseless torment on this special hell-planet, he had finally been given a little taste of freedom just before rudely slapping the hands of fate away and returning to his torture.

  
Maybe things would be better now, though. The Rescue Bots, while they still weren't overly fond of him, had at least accepted him. Even Heatwave seemed to have warmed up to him, though he refused to let up on his relentless drilling. (Some part of him was thankful for that, though, that Heatwave was still willing to train him after all of his fuck-ups- but he didn't dwell too long on the feeling). He may not be free to go where he pleased, but he felt less trapped- and maybe that would make the difference.

  
He studied the stars for a moment longer before forcibly turning himself away from them. _Don't forget_ , he thought. _You chose this_.

  
As his gaze dropped from the stars back to the earth, he noticed Salvage's hodge podge radio wiggle- and froze when he realized that not everyone had gone inside.

  
There, disassembling the junk transmitter (that he would later admit, under duress, was a crucial part of saving the town), was his partner in crime himself. Salvage had apparently forgone regrouping with the other bots as well, and was carefully taking down his device, laying each piece out individually on the ground nearby.

  
Blurr stood perfectly still. This was bad. This was really bad. His spark sank so low in his chest that for a moment, he hoped that it might have stopped pulsing altogether. He had wanted to talk to Salvage later- but with an emphasis on _later_. He wasn't ready for this conversation quite yet. He cast a glance at the open garage door. He could sneak back in, and Salvage would be none the wiser, but then he'd have to stand there with the organics and the other Rescue Bots...

  
Blurr set his jaw. He was even less ready for that. Cautiously, he pushed off from the wall and slunk towards Salvage's transmitter.

  
Salvage noticed him coming a half a second before he actually got there, and straightened up. "Hey, Blurr." He greeted, casual as could be.

  
Blurr stopped and stared at him. "'Hey, Blurr'?" He echoed, not bothering to disguise his disbelief at Salvage's conversational tone.

  
Salvage regarded him. Nothing but silence passed between them for a long moment. "What?"

  
"I just-" Blurr shook his head, and hugged himself. "I thought you might be mad, or something? Give me a stern talking-to? Punch me again?"

  
Salvage snorted, and resumed his disassembling. "No, Blurr. I'm your partner, not your commanding officer."

  
"But..." Blurr rocked back on his heels, thinking. "But, you got mad at me the first time I left you behind." He said, more quietly.

  
Another pause. "That was different. You were leaving me to die the first time."

  
Blurr's arms tightened around his chest, to match the constricting feeling in his spark. He averted his optics and studied the ground. He tried to fight off the slow, sickly creep of desperation he felt, but he knew his struggle was in vain. He scratched his autobrand absent-mindedly.

  
He remained silent for another few moments, before trying to relax his arms so he looked more casual and less like a scared sparkling. He lifted his head, but still didn't look at Salvage.

  
"I meant what I said before." His tone was shaky, but he tried to keep it flat and emotionless. "I'm really sorry about that."

  
"I know you are." Salvage said gently, and Blurr shifted his weight, anxious about how easily Salvage seemed to be forgiving him. "I guess I just don't understand. Why'd you do it?"

  
Blurr laughed humorlessly and threw his hands into the air, his arms returning to their previous position quickly in an awkward display of nerves. "I don't know! Why do I do anything? I'll be honest with you, bud, I don't think I've ever thought anything all the way through in my _life_."

  
Salvage put down the piece of equipment he was holding and brushed off his hands. Blurr shifted from foot to foot anxiously as Salvage made his way around the now half-disassembled transmitter and stood directly in front of him.

  
Blurr chanced a look up at Salvage's face and- nope, that was too much for him. He glanced off to the side, realized that that made it too obvious that he was trying to avoid looking at his partner, and then settled on staring at his feet.

  
"Blurr." Salvage chastised.

  
For a minute or so, Blurr didn't reply. He distracted himself by scratching the back of his leg with his other foot, kicking his heel, trying to judge the length of the drop immediately to his left and if it would kill him, etc. In the end, though, he made the mistake of stealing another glance up at Salvage.

  
Their optics met for a brief moment, and his spark melted a little bit. Salvage smiled encouragingly at him. Blurr clapped his servos over his face, embarrassed.

  
_Stupid Salvage_. Blurr thought bitterly. _And his stupid smile and sweet optics and his pit-forsaken patience_. He probably would have felt better about the whole situation if he would just go ahead and beat him up again.

  
"I don't know." He repeated, moving his servos away from his face only just enough that Salvage could hear him. "I was being stupid. I didn't care about those humans, you know, and I thought you'd gone crazy for trying to save them. I didn't want to leave you behind, but-" He dropped his hands and met his partner's optics again, uncomfortable but desperate for Salvage to see the truth in what he was saying. "I was scared. I'm so, so sorry, Salvage."

  
Salvage didn't say anything at first, and merely studied Blurr's face in silence. Blurr shrank under his gaze, his resolve to apologize shriveling to dust under his partner's scrutiny. Who was he kidding- Salvage wouldn't forgive him. He was patient, but he wasn't a saint, and who could forgive him after all he had done? Blurr had screwed up- royally- and there was no coming back from some things. Maybe he and Salvage could work together, but things wouldn't be the same between them.

  
"I forgive you."

  
Blurr held still and, mentally, he imagined himself freezing in place just before taking the fateful plunge off the precipice of despair. "Really?"

  
"Sure." Now it was Salvage's turn to avert his gaze. "I believe you. And I know you wouldn't have come back if you really didn't care about us."

  
Blurr waited for a moment, like he was waiting for the punchline, but when it didn't come he laughed awkwardly. The word 'us' echoed in his processor for a moment- _us_? "Yeah, well, as much as I like the idea of roaming the galaxy in a stolen spaceship, I think I would have missed you."

  
Salvage grinned back at him, and the dark cloud that had been hanging over Blurr's head for the last few weeks started to finally dissipate. "I would have missed you too."

  
Blurr felt himself smiling, and wondered when that had happened. At the same time, he noticed the silence between them taking on an entirely new flavor of awkwardness, and the smile froze on his face. _Shit_.

  
Inside the lab, the four Rescue Bots were crowded up together against the window, watching the drama unfold before them with varying degrees of interest.

  
"This has been going on for so long." Blades muttered, annoyed. "I wish they would just kiss and make up already."

  
"Don't rush them." Boulder chastised.

  
Back on the outside of the lab, under the distant stars and where the night air was rapidly cooling to uncomfortable temperatures, Blurr found himself at a loss for what to say next.

  
"Um, listen, Salvage-" He began, uncomfortable. "There's something else I wanted to say that, um, I kind of need to get out before we start working together again."

  
Salvage gave him a guarded look. "Yeah?"

  
"Yeah." Here, Blurr would have gulped if he had the saliva to make that action possible. He measured the distance from his face to Salvage's. "Lean down?"

  
Salvage hesitated but did as he was asked- and it put him at the perfect level for Blurr to kiss him full on the mouth.

  
Blades leaned back from the window and raised his arms before him in a gesture that looked a bit like a supplication to the gods. "Finally!"

  
Heatwave shook his head and stepped back from the window, having had his fill of other people's romantic drama for the day. "At least we don't have to live with that weird tension anymore."

  
"I know!" Blades cried. "It's been _weeks_!"

  
Boulder shook his head at them, and noticed that Chase had also stepped back from the window and was furiously scribbling something on a datapad.

  
"Chase, what are you doing?"

  
"I'm writing down a list of Blurr's transgressions for the evening, as well as a date and time I would like him to appear before me to receive his punishment for stealing our ship." Chase informed.

  
A pause. "You're serving him a subpoena?"

  
"Yes." Chase signed the bottom of the datapad and started walking out of the lab.

  
Boulder raised an arm as if to stop him, alarmed. "Right now?"

  
A hand landed heavily on his shoulder, and Boulder turned to see that Heatwave had stopped him. Chase ducked out of the garage, uncontested.

  
"He knows what he's doing." Heatwave said gravely.

  
They could hear the screams from there.


End file.
